Steam demethylation may be carried out by passing an alkylaromatic hydrocarbon, typically toluene, together with steam through a furnace to yield a product containing principally benzene. Steam dealkylation is carried out in the presence of catalysts; and typical catalyst compositions may include zeolites or amorphous inorganic oxides such as silica, alumina, silica-alumina magnesia, zirconia, etc. commonly bearing metal oxides. It is found that such processes are less than fully satisfactory because of low yields of product, degradation of catalyst, poor product selectivity etc.
It is an object of this invention to provide a steam dealkylation process particularly characterized by use of a rugged catalyst. Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.